Majority Of French Support Gay Marriage

Nearly two-thirds of the French approve
of plans by the Socialist government to legalize marriage and
adoption for gay and lesbian couples before the end of next year.

According to a survey released
Wednesday in the online publication La Lettre de L'Opinion, 65
percent of the French support gay nuptials and 53 percent favor
allowing gay couples the right to adopt children.

The survey's results come as Roman
Catholic bishops prepare to have a prayer critical of the reforms
read in churches across the country on Wednesday to mark the feast of
the Assumption.

Cardinal Andre Vingt-Trois' prayer asks
churchgoers to pray for “newly elected officials” to put their
“sense of common good over pressure to meet special demands.” It
also asks that “children cease to be objects of the desires and
conflicts of adults and fully benefit from the love of a father and a
mother.”

Nicolas Gougain of the gay rights group
Inter LGBT called the prayer “homophobic” and accused Vingt-Trois
of “implying that [it] is dangerous for a child to be brought up by
same-sex parents,” in remarks to FRANCE
24.